1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for purifying water. In particular, solar heating with process heat recovery provides energy for evaporating salt water.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Solar energy has long been used to evaporate sea water for the purpose of recovering salt. Large scale salt production facilities typically include salt water evaporation ponds that rely on solar energy to evaporate the liquid, leaving the salt as a solid deposit on the pond containment sidewalls and bottom.
Less well known are large scale evaporative systems whose primary product is fresh water and whose secondary product is salt. As compared to salt recovery systems, fresh water recovery systems require considerably more process equipment, a feature that drives up system capital and operating costs.
Broad adoption of large scale solar powered fresh water recovery systems hinges, among other things, on more economical designs that reliably make fresh water at a cost lower than competing technologies such as ground water recovery.